Balloon-torpedo



(No Model.)

M. FRENCH.

BALLOON TOR PBDO.

No. 603,182. Patented Apr. 26, 1898.

amen/{9oz Wi W I marcellusfienck I 1 MW Wm a der/mug UNITED STATES PATlINT OFFICE.

MARCELLUS FRENCH, OF HOUSTON, VIR-Gll-UA.

BALLOON-TORPEDQ.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,182, datediApril .26, 1898.

Appllcation filed July 13,

1'0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAnoELLUs FRENCH, of Houston, in the county of Halifax and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Balloon-Torpedoes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it'appertains to make and use the same.

The object of this invention is to provide means for conveying torpedoes of great destructive power within the lines of an enemy and exploding the same for the destruction of either life or property.

The invention consists of the combination. of a balloon, a torpedo suspended therefrom,

. an explosive charge or disruptive member for destroying the balloon, and means for igniting said charge.

In the drawing forming part of this specifioation the figure illustrates a balloon with a torpedo suspended therefrom, an explosive charge for bursting the balloon, and-'a fuse leading to said charge for igniting the same. I have also graphically represented mechanism adjacent to the explosive charge, which may be a time mechanism, for causing'the explosion of the charge to destroy the balloon. I have also represented as an alternative of the fuse and the time mechanism a cord leading to a hammer or friction-fuse, which may be used for short distances by the operator or sender-out of the balloon.

- 1 is a torpedo, which may be of any suitable shape and dimensions. I have represented the same as in form of a cylinder having a conical lowerend 2 and having .connectei withsuch lower end a disk or plate 3. This plate is mounted for movement so as to ac tuate the plunger forming a part of a friction or percussion primer.

4 is a balloon, of any suit-able construction and fabric, of a size or carrying capacity sufficient for the purposes of the case-that is, sufficient to carry a torpedo weighing from five hundred pounds to one ton, more or less, as may be desired.

5 is an explosive charge or disruptivemember, arranged by preference at the top of theballoon, of such destructive power that upon 1897. BerialNo.-64{i,430. on model.)

explosion it will tearlthe fabric and cause the balloon to collapse.

6' is a time-fuse, which may be ignited as the balloon is sent up, to reach the disruptive member at a'time predetermined by the op.- erator, or in lieu of the fuse'G a time mechanism 7 may be used, which may consist of clockwork or other regulated mechanism which can be set to cause the explosion of the charge at any time after the me'chanism'has been adjusted. As an alternative of the fuse and the time mechanism, where the balloon is to be destroyed at short ran ge,a cord or connection 8 may be attached to the balloon and arranged so that it may be reeled off from a spool, and when the balloon has arrived at its proper position above the point of attack the operator may suddenly pull the cord and cause the explosion of the charge and the destruction of the balloon.

In operation I propose to use ordinarily from five hundred to one thousand pounds of dynamite in my destructive torpedo,and when the winds are favorable and after calculating point of attack, the charge explodes, destroys the balloon, and the torpedo falls by gravity, the remnants of the balloon, operating in the manner of a feather to an arrow, insure that the torpedo will fall end onand thereby renders it certain that such torpedo will explode. The explosion of one ton of dynamite at any .pointwillproduce destructive efiectsfonone thousand feet in all directions. While this system or method of destruction may be ap- An 0. paratus for-deliveringtorpedoesto a, point 0 attack, which consists in the combination of a balloon, a torpedo, supporting means between said bglloon and said torpedo,

5 an explosive char e or disruptive member for destroying the bal oon, and means for igniting' the charge.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses MARCELLUS FRENCH. WVitnesses:

WILLIAM LEIGH, H. O. DERRI K; 

